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One thing that I am very proud of for this year is earning the rank of Eagle Scout... This award is part of the Boy Scouts of America program- which teaches young men from the age of 11-18 a wide variety of skills and abilities. Over the past years as a Boy Scout, I have earned 21 merit badges and have completed an Eagle Project which consisted of replacing, repainting and placing 14 sets of steps at Del Campo's football stadium.

As a Boy Scout, I have learned lasting habits which I will live by for the rest of my life. As a scout, I have gained a lot of experience and skills through a wide variety of activities; I have learned what it means to be a scout and to live up to the Scout Oath and Law. I will always carry what I have learned in the scouting programs as a part of who I am, and I will never forget the values it has taught me.

I am a fifth generation scouter. My Great-Great Grandfather was a scoutmaster in one of the first troops established in the US and my parents and grandparents have all served as scouts and scout leaders for nearly 100 years. Scouting has taught me many great values such as honesty, leadership, responsibility, compassion, service, and hard work.

For my first Eagle Project, I took on the responsibility of taking out the existing south side football stadium steps for Del Campo High School this past summer. This involved planning for the project- drawing out the proper steps and materials needed to take on the task of removing over 142 boards which made up 14 rows of stairs. First I had help from my friends from school and church, and we removed all of the rotting and broken boards from the area. Next, we had to replace the substructure of the foundation where the boards were being placed; and luckily I had the help of general contractors and other adults who made the job easier for everyone. Over the next week, I carefully planned and bought all the supplies for the project; this included screws, paint, caution tape, supplies, etc...

My fellow helpers and I carried out the priming, painting and cutting over 200 feet of new wood for the steps, and the following Wednesday we laid all the boards down. ​

Then we filled in all the cracks and holes of the boards with putty, and proceeded to repaint all of the steps! ​

Sadly, I forgot one small step in the paperwork part of the Eagle Project... When it asked for signatures from "The District," we thought that it meant to get the approval signatures from the San Juan Unified School District (Which made sense because we were working at a school). What the approvals actually meant was to get signatures from the Pioneer Express District- meaning the approval from the Scouting District... This meant that I would have to do an extra project if I were to become an Eagle Scout the right way :)​

For my second project, I went again to Del Campo High School in search of finding something that would be visible for everyone to see... After discussing with the Booster Club at DC, we agreed upon doing the Del Campo logo in the front of the school facing Dewey.​

For my project, I again planned and carried out the work of creating a border of bender board around the DC logo. Then I laid down weed cloth in the border and put over 5 yards of black walk-on bark in. Lastly, we finished the project by repainting the logo Del Campo's colors of Blue and Gold. ​

At the end of the project, I was very pleased to have finished everything. The years worth of effort which I had put into Boy Scouts had finally come to an end with the completion of my project and my Eagle Binder. I'm extremely proud of all the things that I have accomplished in Scouting and I'm overwhelmingly stoked to take what I have learned as a scout with me into life and my future job.

Josh, you should be proud of yourself! I am so inspired by the level of commitment and hard work these projects required. It is also amazing to me that you are obviously a fine and engaging young man with selfless focus.... and fine writing skills. I found you on the LYL Creator's Guild. I expect to hear more and more great things from and about you. Shine your light and help illuminate the world! Bravo!

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Judy Stoeltzing

3/5/2016 08:24:25 am

I just re read this fine testimony, Josh. I am so proud of all you do and all you are. What a pleasure it is to be your Grandma. I look forward to watching you stride confidently into Your future as you build on all you have experienced and accomplished so far. Love, G'ma Judy💕

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Hi, I'm Josh Stoeltzing. I am a Freshman at BYU Provo, I participate in track and field, soccer, ultimate Frisbee, I play the piano, I'm LDS, and I love to explore the world and learn about new things.